The Destiny of Nations
by alexzinger123
Summary: Nations, it is said, are much like men. They experience times of great peace and great upheaval, great health and great sickness. Some nations rise to become large and powerful, fearing no other, but some fall with such a whisper that the pages of history themselves do not remember them. However grand or small a nation, all nations, like men, rise and then fall, as is their destiny


My heart was racing. I ran through the forest faster than I had ever run before. Branches and thorns tugged and torn at my uniform, not that I cared, all I cared about was finding Holy Rome. Fast.

Behind me I could hear Austria calling out for me to slow down, that I was running too far ahead, that he couldn't keep up. I simply snorted at how pathetic the stuffy aristocrat was, he probably rarely ever leaves his house, and if he ever did, it certainly was NOT to go out running or training. What a sissy…

A few times I tripped over tree roots that were sticking out of the ground, but I saw most coming and kept my balance, continuing running as fast as I could.

I had to find them; I had to save Holy Rome before…Before something terrible happened...

As I ran, I could also hear Hungary's voice in the background, calling out to me. I couldn't hear what either her or Austria were saying, though, I was so far ahead of both of them I could barely even make out any distinction between the two, all I could hear was tired voices full of concern shouting in the distance. Why the hell did Austria have to bring that annoying Hungary along, too? Why did he need to come at all?! Holy Rome wasn't his brother; he wasn't Holy Rome's father! He was MY Brother, I was his father figure, he was MY responsibility, NOT Austria's! Why did Holy Rome do this all by himself? Why couldn't he have at least told me about it? Why did I only hear about this when Austria came bursting through my door? Was he trying to prove something by all of this? Was he trying to show he was as awesome as I was? There are better ways to show that! Why attack France?!

As I ran, I feared the worst. Was Holy Rome hurt? Was he OK? Am I already too late? Has France…Is he…No…He can't be…After all, I trained him myself, and if anyone knew how to fight, it was the awesome Prussia!

The dense forest started to thin as a small clearing came into view. In the distance I could hear the sounds of clanging swords and grunting. A swordfight was still in progress. I still had time, but how much, I did not know.

I forced myself to run even faster than I had been before, running straight ahead flat out. I had almost reached the clearing, the trees had all but receded now, and in the distance I could see France and Holy Rome, locked in combat. France was blocking all of Holy Rome's moves perfectly, and without any effort. His parries blocked every lunge and slash Holy Rome tried. I could see his smug face, smiling, amused by the boy's determination, by his sheer will power to continue fighting, but slowly, I could see him getting bored of the fight. I went to pull out my sword and join the fight, when my foot was caught on yet another branch. The trip sent me flying, due to my awesome speed, and I landed face first on the ground.

Dazed, I glanced up at the fight, trying to grasp the situation. As I watched, France's boredom got the better of him. After blocking one of Holy Rome's lunges, he twisted the blade of his opponent's sword, sending the weapon flying out of Holy Rome's hand.

I fumbled to get up, still dazed by my incident with the tree roots, unable to even stand, let alone grab my sword, which I only now realised was no longer on my person.

"_Scheiße," _I thought to myself,_ "Where the hell is my sword?!"_

As I looked around for my weapon, I kept one eye on the battle; my heart racing faster than I had ran. Holy Rome had tried to turn and run, falling over himself as he did so, but France made short work of his escape plan, running ahead of him in a matter of steps, kicking him in the gut as he went.

I began to panic, my dizziness had quickly disappeared, but I still had no idea where my sword was.

"_Scheiße" _I swore to myself_, "Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße! Where the fuck is my sword?! It has to be somewhere around here! It has to be!"_

I looked up to see what was happening in the clearing. Holy Rome was meekly rolling around on the ground, writhing in pain as France proceeded to kick him a few more times, laughing as he did so.

"This is it?" I heard that French bastard say "THIS is the great and ancient Holy Roman EMPIRE?!" He laughed his familiar laugh, "_Mon dieu_, you are pathetic! At least you did give a good fight, _mon ami_, but I think that it now it's time to end this Charade_, oui?"_

I abandoned my search for my sword, knowing that there was no point in searching anymore, opting instead to hide behind a tree and watch, unable to help, unable to do anything.

"_Scheiße, where the fuck are Austria and Hungary?!" _I swore silently_ "Why are they so Gott damn slow?! Why is Hungary never here when I need her?!"_ In fact, forget I said that last bit, like hell would I ever actually NEED Hungary for anything!

France grabbed Holy Rome by the scruff of his neck, bringing him up to his face. I saw France say something quietly to Holy Rome, which resulted in _mein _awesome_ Bruder_ spitting in his face, a sentiment that France did not enjoy.

I held my breath in sheer anticipation, staring with the same stunned shock as before, unable to move, unable to intervene in any way…

France regarded his enemy with a small smile, and, lifting his sword, ran his weapon right through Holy Rome.

"_NEIN! BRUDER!" _I screamed out at the top of my lungs, only to have my own words drowned out in the blood curdling screams of _mein bruder_. Something looked wrong with France; he didn't seem satisfied in his work. An almost sadistic edge had overtaken him, a sort of look even Russia would be discomforted by. He proceeded to twist the blade inside the wound of his enemy, almost squeezing out cries of pain from his victim like one would a fruit.

I could not believe my very eyes. I had heard of revolutionary countries going crazy, but nothing like this, nothing this sadistic, this cruel, this…Extreme. As I watched, helpless, unarmed, Holy Rome's screams of pain filled my ears like a banshee's screech, making me wish I was deaf. I felt ashamed hapless I was, defenceless and hiding behind a tree. I had not only failed Holy Rome, but myself, and, worst of all, I have failed old Fritz…

"Prussia! Are you there?!" I heard Austria's cries close by, but I could not call out to them. I had lost all control over my voice; I was paralyzed by shock, my heart threatening to give way any second.

France had heard the Austrian's calls, as well, looking towards the tree line with a sly smile across his face

"Well then," He said, laughing slightly to himself "It seems my fun is over…Please keep in touch, won't you Prussia!" He called over to where I hid in the trees "_Au revoir_!" He dropped Holy Rome like a ragdoll and began to walk away, laughing as he did so.

I didn't dare run after France, as much as I despised him, I knew I was defenceless, more importantly, I knew that Holy Rome needed my help and there was not much time left.

When I was sure France had left, I ran full speed into the centre of the clearing, where Holy Rome had fallen. As I closed in on him, I realised he was not moving. I feared the very worst even before I got to him.

As I arrived at his body, I found him still breathing, Thank _Gott_, but wearily, and with much effort. I inspected his wound and could work out that it was made around the lower torso area, but there was so much blood I couldn't see the penetration anywhere. Blood was pouring out, blood was all over the ground, blood was all over his hands and his robe; oh _Gott _there was so much blood!

Cradling Holy Rome in my arms, I tore off a piece of my uniform, cleaning up the blood the best I could whereabouts I thought the wound was and pressed it onto the wound. It was the best I could do to stop the bleeding, but it just kept on bleeding! There was little else I could do to help him. I tried to say that everything would be ok, if only for my own sake, but otherwise, I was just as helpless as before. I felt like crying, like giving up hope and giving in to my most basic emotion…But I knew that I could not, Old Fritz was counting on me to uphold Prussian tradition and honour, and I had to what Fritz asked me…

Austria and Hungary had just entered the clearing, Austria lagging behind ever so slightly. As Hungary got closer, she could see all the blood all over the ground where Holy Rome had fallen. As she discovered the state Holy Rome was in she gasped, her hands moving over her mouth in shock. Austria, however took some time to realise what had happened, but when he did, he turned a ghostly white, falling to his knees in disbelief

"_Nein…" _The Austrian spoke slowly, with a deep regret building in his voice "_Nein, nein NEIN! _This is all my fault! If I had only stopped him leaving…If I had known…I could have…Oh _mein Gott, _what have I done?!" The aristocrat broke out into tears, his emotions getting the better of his usual higher class composer. I had never seen Austria cry. True, he had been on the verge of tears many times, especially whenever I had invaded his territory, but I've never seen him lose control like that before…It was an extremely depressing sight to behold, his hair curl drooping like a dying flower, and his eyes becoming just as red as mine were…

"You can't blame yourself," Hungary said, her voice shaking with grief as she moved to comfort Austria, "How could you have known? Did he ever say anything? To either of us? To Italy? To anyone?"

"_Nein_…I didn't…"

All eyes turned in an instant towards me, but I was not the one who had uttered those words.

I looked down to see Holy Rome, barely awake, trying to sit up, in spite of his wound

"_Nein_, don't…" I said, cooing him to rest a while "Save your strength, _bruder_…"

Even with my words, the young empire chose to sit up slightly more straight, but with much pain evident on his face.

"I'm sorry, Mr Austria…I should have told you what I planned to do…But perhaps…Perhaps it's better this way"

"Don't talk that way!" I cut him off, "You're going to be alright, _bruder_! You're stronger than this! You're too awesome to die!" I glanced at his wound, it still bled out so much blood, and my uniform was doing nothing to help. Hungary also looked at the wound, the sight depressing her further as she stared at us both, her thoughts as silent as she was.

"Remember a few years ago, Prussia?" Holy Rome said softly, his voice wheezing as he spoke "When France had only just had its revolution? When Misters England, Austria and Russia had declared war on France? I asked if I could join them, but you said that I wasn't awesome enough to join yet, that I needed to prove myself to fight France." I remembered that conversation. In truth, Austria had asked if he could join in the war, but I turned down that proposal, instead telling Austria to only send in his armies, which had greatly disappointed Holy Rome.

There was another thing I remembered was said that night;

"But I also said that if you were to fight France, the awesome me would have to be invited, too! And then we'd both fight that frog together! _Als brüdern_!"

_Mein Bruder _gave me a weak smile, slowly placing his hand upon my shoulder,

"I know…But ever since the 30 Years war…Nobody has taken me seriously…Everyone has been too concerned for my wellbeing…I needed to prove myself to them before…Before I could ever prove myself to you…"

"You didn't need to go after France!" I exclaimed, my voice becoming hoarser as I tried harder and harder to repress my tears, "You didn't need to prove yourself to anyone, especially not me! You are _mein bruder_! _Und Ich liebe dich! _And no matter what you do, I will always love you!"

Behind us, Hungary was crying silently to herself, speechless at what she was witnessing, Austria, on the other hand, was in a wretched state, still on his knees, his head upon his chest, tears rolling off his nose, his glasses askew, silently murmuring unintelligible words to himself.

Slowly, Holy Rome raised his arm to the chain around his neck, pulling it out of his robe. At the end of the chain, rested Holy Rome's Iron Cross bestowed to him by none other than the awesome me. He pulled the chain, removing it from his neck.

"Here," Said Holy Rome, "I want you to have this…" All three of us, including Austria, stared intently at the medallion, spinning around on its chain in front of my face "I_ remember the day I gave him that cross…"_ I thought to myself fighting against tears the tears burning in my eyes, threatening to fall, as I pushed the cross away.

"Nein," I said finally "I can't take this, I gave it to you! It's yours to-"

"Prussia," He said firmly "We both know I won't need this where I'm going…" Hungary let out a tiny sob, as a single tear escaped my control and fell down my cheek. I took the Cross without another word, still trying to force my tears back. Holy Rome then turned to Austria, who was staring at Holy Rome's Iron Cross in my hands with bloodshot eyes.

"Austria," Holy Rome said, coughing up some blood after doing so, "Please…Tell Italy…I love her…But…I won't be able to see her again…Not in this lifetime, at least…" Austria's eyes seemed to shine at the dying empire's request, his tears falling down his cheeks like rain down a window, but he eventually silently nodded as Hungary bust into a fit of sobs and hugged Austria. "Maybe…we'll meet again too…Prussia…" I stared deeply at Holy Rome, not daring to look away, not daring to blink, even as his eyes became heavier and heavier, and his breathing became more and more laboured. "Perhaps…One day…" He said with a weak, painful smile, "We may even be able to fight France together, too…" I gave a short laugh, the tears in my eyes burning like acid as I fought against them.

"_Ich liebe dich, Heiliges Römisches Reich" _I choked out, a lump building in my throat.

"_Preußen…Ich…Ich liebe …_"Before he could finish, he gave out a long breath, before closing his eyes and allowing his head to fall back against my arm.

Words for a moment escaped me, I sat there, speechless, and all I could hear were Hungary's sobs…Was…Was he…

"_Bruder_?" I asked, tears starting to fall, as Austria and Hungary realised what happened, "_BRUDER?!_" No…It can't be…he can't…

"Prussia…" Said Austria, his voice shaking "He's gone…The Holy Roman Empire…Is no more…"

I held Holy Rome tighter towards me, his blood staining my Prussian blue uniform a deep crimson red. My tears fell onto Holy Rome's Iron Cross, which still lay in my hand, as I began to cry for my fallen _bruder_.

* * *

Who knows how much time we all spent in silence, an hour? Maybe more? It did not matter; we were all too distraught at our loss to do anything. But soon, dusk began to fall, and Austria and Hungary had already calmed down enough to stand and walk over to me and Holy Rome

"Prussia…" Said Austria, sadness still overpowering his voice, "We have to go now…"

"And what, you arrogant _stechen_?!" I snapped at him, "Leave Holy Rome here?! For the wolves?! _Nein!" _I stood carrying Holy Rome's lifeless body in my arms.

"Where are you going?" Austria demanded, in more like his usual snobby tone. I stopped to turn at him; my red eyes bloodshot a shade of crimson from my tears, as I said in a defeated voice;

"I'm taking Holy Rome home…But mark my words…France will PAY for what he has done today…Mark my words, that revolutionary will never see the turn of the decade…If you're interested, you're more than welcome to join me…"

I turned to walk away, but found my path blocked by Hungary.

If it were any other day, I would ask her if she can move her un-awesome ass out of my way so I could walk past, but her eyes were so full of concern, of compassion, of empathy, that instead, I simply broke down into her arms, still holding Holy Rome between us both…

* * *

The day was 18 January 1871, France had been defeated at the hands of my North German Confederation, and Alsace Lorraine had been annexed by German Forces. The German states of the confederation stood in the Hall of Mirrors, at the French Palace of Versailles, watching intently at what was atop the podium. I stood above a blonde haired man, tall, muscular, with blue eyes and slicked back hair, whose gaze was more intense than any other German in the room; I think I trained him well! Of course, I am awesome, so why wouldn't my baby brother be? As I placed Holy Rome's old Iron Cross upon the man, I took a step back, asking him to rise. As he did so, I began a speech I had prepared for the event;

"From the flames of victory, we have forged a new nation and an empire. With this Iron Cross you bear the fate of the entire nation upon you, as well as the destiny of those who have come before you. May this day forever be known as the single greatest day of all German history! May it go down in history as a great victory of not only German military, but German nationalism! _Gott schütze den Kaiser! Gott schütze Deutschland!_"

As I finished my speech, the other German states echoed my calls, bowing as they did so to the newly proclaimed German Empire. I went to bow as well, when Germany stopped me.

"_Nein, bruder_, you have raised me for as long as I can remember, if anyone should be bowed to, it is you." I looked at him with a shocked face for a moment, but soon I gave him a wide smile and hugged him…Who knows? Maybe Holy Rome and I will, in a way, fight France together…One day…

* * *

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first Hetalia fan fiction!  
Now, as this is my first ever fan fiction, I'm not too well versed in how exactly these things go, hell, it took me half an hour to think of the title! Which isn't even that good!  
Regardless, I'm really happy with how this turned out! And I couldn't have even known where to start without u/3070528/BFTLandMWandSEK who basically has been my mentor even since I revealed I had any ambition to start writing!  
Hope you all enjoy it! Remember to give me any feedback you can! I read and reply to EVERY comment I have ever received, no matter how simple or basic! Even so much as saying "It's ok" means something to me!

Oh and also, the cover art was done by , so send your love there!

Of course, the fic itself is set at the end of the war of the 3rd coalition against Napoleon, in 1806 to be exact, wherein France had defeated the coalition at the battle of Austerlitz and, as part of the peace agreements, dissolved the centuries old Holy Roman Empire and replaced it with a pro-French Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of German states, to act as a buffer zone against the rest of Europe, especially Prussia, whom was becoming more and more concerned about France's influence in central Europe, leading to the formation of the 4th Coalition by Prussia. In 1871, the North German Confederation, a union of most German states, headed by Prussia, defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, annexing Alsace-Lorraine. King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, forming the Nation state of Germany as the only true unification of German culture in all history.

* * *

**Foreign words time!**

_Scheiße- Shit_

_Mon dieu- my god!_

_Mon ami and oui- now really, come on!_

_Gott-God_

_Nein-no_

_Au revoir-good bye_

_Bruder-brother_

_Als brüdern- as brothers_

_Ich liebe dich- I love you_

_Heiliges Römisches Reich- Holy roman empire_

_Preußen- Prussia _

_Stechen- prick_

_Gott schütze den Kaiser! Gott schütze Deutschland!- God save the emperor! God Save Germany!_


End file.
